Subject: (whorl) Quetzal

From: David_Lebling <david_lebling at avid.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 09:40:09 +0000

[Posted from Whorl, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

> From: douge at nti.com (Doug Eigsti)
> Subject: Re: (whorl) the mystery of Q
> Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 13:01:55 -0700 (MST)
 
>  Quetzal is first mentioned in LAKE on page 81.2 (2nd paragraph). On
page
> 86.1 Remora notes that he is fond of beef tea. Remora says "A man
can't
> live on beef tea and air", we now know that he was supplementing his
diet
> with blood. 

That's very interesting; do we know that Quetzal was getting blood
somewhere?  I don't remember anything specific to that effect.  As I
recall, we know fairly early that Quetzal is Not What He Seems -- he
reverts to his snakelike form (or stance) after Remora leaves.  (Or is
this in a later scene?)  It was definitely an "aha!" moment for me.

I think the question of Quetzal's intent is one of the major mysteries
of the series.  He is presented (Oreb aside) as a force for good.  Is
Wolfe saying (as he has said before) that evil may do good without
intending to?  This seems almost too simple.  Another interpretation is
that as an enemy "agent in place" he has come to sympathize with those
he is working against.  Again, almost too simple.  One can take an
old-line Catholic point of view ("ex cathedra nulla salis"), in which we
see Quetzal as analogous to say, a Protestant clergyman who in
unwittingly leading his flock to damnation.  But then Quetzal is
witting, so I don't think the comparison holds, and besides, Wolfe's
Catholicism seems much more sophisticated than that.

I have read somewhere that Wolfe is planning a series set on Blue and
Green.  Perhaps more answers will be forthcoming when it appears,
although it would certainly be more satisfying to tease out the answers
now!

     Dave Lebling
     (david_lebling at avid.com)

Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com

---

From: revjack at radix.net <revjack at radix.net>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 03:09:00 +0000

[Hope I'm replying to the correct address here...]

On Wed, 15 Jan 97 09:40:09 -0500, David_Lebling at avid.com wrote:

: > From: douge at nti.com (Doug Eigsti)
: > Subject: Re: (whorl) the mystery of Q
: > Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 13:01:55 -0700 (MST)
:  
: > Quetzal is first mentioned in LAKE on page 81.2 (2nd paragraph). On
: > page 86.1 Remora notes that he is fond of beef tea. Remora says 
: > "A man can't live on beef tea and air", we now know that he was 
: > supplementing his diet with blood. 
: 
: That's very interesting; do we know that Quetzal was getting blood
: somewhere?  I don't remember anything specific to that effect.

I seem to recall some sort of blood-sucking misfortune having befallen
Teasel, which Dr. Crane dismissed as some sort of bat bite.
Unfortunately I don't have my copy of "Nightside" - I just finished
"Exodus" and happily turned around to read the four again, only to
find the first one missing. Damn.

: I have read somewhere that Wolfe is planning a series set on Blue and
: Green.

I certainly hope so. Do you suppose the dark, flitting thing that Horn
saw at the end of "Exodus" could be Oreb?
_________________
revjack at radix.net

---

From: Derek Bell <dbell at maths.tcd.ie>
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 19:20:59 +0000

>Teasel, which Dr. Crane dismissed as some sort of bat bite.

	The mention of a bat-bite - vampires traditionally turn into
bats; what other shape-shifting powers are they attributed?

	My guess at Quetzal's motivation is that he (and other inhumi)
view the crew as a resource to be fed off. Perhaps he wanted human
colonies on Green and Blue as the population would presumably be
larger and more resilient to disasters. (Including the Whorl's gradual
demise.) To that extent, his motives dovetailed with the Plan of Pas.

	Quetzal seems to target the young, not adults - I'm not sure
of the significance of that.

>: I have read somewhere that Wolfe is planning a series set on Blue and

	They were mentioned on pduggan's Gene Wolfe page under news
and rumours: _On_Blue's Waters_, _In_Green's_Jungles_ & _Under_the_Long_Sun_
The series is to be called _The_Book_of_the_Short_Sun_. (What else
would do?)

>saw at the end of "Exodus" could be Oreb?

	I thought it was one of the inhumi, though I may well be
mistaken.

	Derek

---

From: xury <xury at pacbell.net>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 18:22:33 +0000

Another question one must ask, is that of the matter explaining, how
does Quetzal know so much? He is inhumi and the Prolocutor, but does this
explain why he knew Pas' plans or even that Pas was dead, especially since
there have been no theophanies for 30 years. Also when Pas' theophany
occured he was able to hear the instrucions that the god gave also, so he
too is able to communicate with the gods even though he is a stowaway? I
would like to know some opinions on these matters, thanks.
                                                                        Xury